CT - Charlie Brown Campground

Time again for the annual Dog and Trailer spring rally at Charlie Brown campground...and another great time with friends old and new!  This rally is growing so much that it really is hard to spend enough time with everyone.  A weekend is just not enough, but since school is still in session and many of us have kids, a weekend is all we get...but we sure made the most of it!

We were on site 39.  We had some major rain the days leading up to the weekend, so some sites were shuffled around.

We got out for a nice long and hilly run with friends...well, Mr. McSpeedy pants was way ahead of us, but we girls had a fun run together :)

Theo of course had a great time with his friends, we pretty much only saw them at meal times and bed time.  But hey, where did all of my laundry money go???  I will just say that their camp store and game room are not hurting for business when we're in town. 

We had a craft beer tasting on Friday night :) 

And the pot luck dinner was enormous and delicious!  Of course, complete with our dear "margarator" :)

Repair: Rear Window

We decided to go all Alfred Hitchcock and address the Rear Window (10 points if you get this.)  Anyway, the rear window was leaking and we realized that our band aid re-caulking job from last year was not cutting it anymore...time to do it right.

First we had to take the shade and valance down so we could get to the inside frame to unscrew it.

The on to the window itself.  This bad boy wasn't easy to get out - lots of putty knife work around the old caulk and butyl tape, especially on the sides and bottom.  The top was the problem where very little was left and just let the water right in.  

Tons of elbow grease and alcohol got the old caulk and butyl tape residue off both the fiberglass and the window frame.  This part was not fun.

I masked up the window and made it all nice and new with the help of the good folks at Krylon.

Meanwhile Kevin took care of the section of plywood at the top that had seen too much wetness.  It was delaminated but not rotted, however we decided to take the extra step to be safe and painted on the Rot Fix stuff just to be sure of a good repair job.

After that we used marine epoxy and some clamps to re-laminate the layers.

Fresh butyl tape applied (tip on this stuff - keep it stored in the freezer for easier handling) and back in she went!

Viola!  The bonus is that the window is now the cleanest it has been since we've owned it ;)

NC - State Fairgrounds Campground

We went to Raleigh to visit Kevin's sister and brother in law and to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon.  We really wanted to stay somewhere closer in town than out along I-95, so I started searching and found that the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh has campsites - $25 a night for full hook-ups and close to everything - perfect!

We picked the end row, near a big grassy area which was perfect for throwing a ball around for the puppies.  We also saw a family flying kites there :)

Theo had a fun overnight with Aunt Kathryn, Uncle Pee Wee, and Penny...and loved the recliners in the man cave (ahem, it is a woman cave too!)

Kevin and I had a really good race - not the fastest for either one of us since the rolling hills were relentless, but it was a beautiful course and a great way to see Raleigh.  Lots of great crowd support and fun creative signs along the course!

Alas, we had to tag team the rest of our visit since Theo came down with a bug with a fever, chills, aches, and a sore throat :(  Poor peanut.  This is how he spent the good part of Sunday afternoon and Monday:

At least we were in our own comfy camper and not stuck being sick in an unfamiliar hotel room.  

Kathryn and I took the dogs for a nice walk at the art museum that is close to the fairgrounds - great outdoor trail with large works and it links to the greenway system.  Dogs allowed, yay!  We will definitely put this on our list for next time when we can all go together and spend more time!

Theo did rest enough to rally for a final hurrah dinner:

VA - Mountain Cove Winery

Yes, you read right - an overnight at a winery!  We joined Harvest Hosts and now we can access a whole bunch of wineries, farms, and even a few museums that allow RV'ers to stay overnight.  This was our first stay and it was great!  A little bit of a route modification for us, but so worth it!

We had a great wine tasting and chat with the owner (no tastings for Theo of course, much to his disappointment) and picked up a few bottles as well as some homemade jam :)

The weather was great and we had such a nice relaxing evening walking the dogs and playing some Mad Libs.  Our parking spot was right near a babbling brook - near our bedroom windows, which is just about the only thing we heard all night out there in the country!  Daytime temps of 70 dropped to 50's at night - best sleep in a looooong time!

MA - Normandy Farms Camping Resort

We did our final hurrah and winterizing this weekend at Normandy Farms.  We did the same thing last year and chose it because of the amenities including an indoor pool.  This year I threw it out to the crowd at Dog and Trailer, our online camping friends, and the next thing you know we had a rally going!  Much more fun with friends to literally "chill out" with.  Yep, the temps were pretty chilly, but we had a good time.

It occurs to me that I didn't take many pics, but Theo and his friends had a great time riding bikes, hitting the arcade, swimming, hitting the arcade, playing in the game loft, hitting the arcade...and the dogs certainly had a blast at the dog park.  The place is big enough and busy enough that there were always dogs to play with at the park no matter when we went.  I did snag a pic when our boys were two of four black labs playing at one point:

And I snagged a pic of Theo and his friend Ethan in the game loft:

We had an awesome pot luck in the rec hall, and lots of fun chatting by the fire with friends old and new. 

A pic of the final fire of the season...always makes me sad:

Kevin and I also got in a round of disc golf after finishing our winterizing chores...a good reward for figuring out the water heater bypass valves on the Winnie that have a way different configuration than the Visa had - you can bet top dollar that we took lots of pics once we got it figured out!  The problem is that the Chalet documentation skips the detailed stuff on this since the Chalet line is made as rental units.  I guess Winnebago assumes that an RV tech will be doing the winterizing, not the average Joe and Jane.  After getting home we looked up the Access manual online (that's the model that ours is, just Chalet branded), and sure enough it is all there written up clearly with visual aids.  Oh well, we got it figured out and all was well.

Repair: New Microwave

Our microwave was on the fritz.  upon powering up the carousel and light were on, without starting the microwave...then when we did start it - nothing.  Since we dry camp a lot we use the microwave on only 50% of our trips, but still it needed to be replaced.

I immediately saw huge dollar signs since it was a built-in, but to our surprise it was actually a bezel around a countertop model making it appear as a built-in!  So off I went to every store in town with my bezel in hand.  I may have looked like an idiot, but nobody yelled at me for trying it on the floor models and my search paid off when I found Frigidaire model FFCM1134LB at Lowes.  It required a couple of washers as spacers in on one side (that you can't see with the door closed, but as perfect as can be expected and fits like a charm!

NY - Hickory Hill Campground

We weren't at the campground much since we were in town for the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, but it was a nice place and people were very friendly.  We were on site 1, which was a back-in, but convenient for in and out since we didn't rent a car this time around and just drove the Winnie when we wanted to go somewhere.

We did get a chance to squeeze in a round of mini golf, and of course Theo visited the game room and appreciated the cable and wi-fi.

Driving the Winnie worked out well as there was plenty of parking at the Corning Museum of Glass, which was in easy walking distance to all of the race goings-on, including the really cool downtown area. Not to mention, the museum is a wonderful destination in itself!

It was also great having the Winnie with us in town for some down time after visiting downtown and the museum, but while waiting for Theo's appointed time to make a glass project.  And it was also great for after the race when Kevin wanted a nice hot shower and clean clothes.  (and yes, that's an Aliner in the background...reminded us of old times!)  

Super great lunch and super great service at Poppleton Pastries on Market Street:

Museum of Glass pics:

A video of Theo's glass making experience: 

And the final product - a blue and purple pumpkin!  Theo's color choices, of course :) 

And some race pics:

Kevin at the finish line - in the green shorts

Theo and I were assigned the mylar heat blankets.

And we got to see the medals before the runners did!

All hand made glass, made right there in Corning!